Parting Words
by sleepwalk
Summary: Jean and Scott graduate and move on, but not before Jean says goodbye.
1. Prologue

Parting Words

By Sleepwalk

Disclaimer: The Xmen are a property of Marvel Comics and are licensed to Warner Bros. Television.

No profit is made from this otherwise original work.

Prologue

These are a series of letters I had Jean write to the others as she and Scott go off to college.  In the comics, Jean has been incredibly maternal over the past forty years.  That doesn't seem to translate into X-men: Evolution as much as she seems to want to just help people.  I'm combining the two to make her just a really good friend.  If you have an aversion to Jean, Scott, Evan, Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, Xavier, Ororo, Logan, or Lance, you may want to skip this.  Put the cap back on your Haterade!

I don't know if it'll make much of a difference, or even if it will be mentioned, but Bayville is Bayville, Long Island by my figuring.  Don't dispute it.  It doesn't matter much.  They're not Islander fans.  Billy Joel won't be making any cameos.


	2. To Rogue

Parting Words

By Sleepwalk

Disclaimer: The Xmen are a property of Marvel Comics and are licensed to Warner Bros. Television.

No profit is made from this otherwise original work.

"To Rogue," read the envelope.  Rogue was generally the first one up in the morning, except sometimes Scott.  "It seems like he and Jean split early," she thought.  She opened the unsealed envelope and read silently.

Good Morning Rogue,

                I know better than to give you an order.  I've learned that nobody does that.  Oddly enough, I learned that the day I stopped trying to help train you and started to try and know you.  The day I started to feel like you were my friend, not my teammate.  That's when I learned you didn't need to be told what to do, just told what needed to be done.  That's why we need you, Rogue.  That's the reason Scott felt comfortable enough to leave.

                Kurt has bad days, sometimes.  There are times when Amanda and he can't get together for a while.  There are days when someone leaves a GAP catalog open out on the coffee table.  Sometimes, in the mall, a salesperson will tell him that an outfit goes great with his skin tone.   These are the days when he's reminded of what we don't care about, but everyone else does.

                Evan is worse.  He's either goofing off to the point of being negligent or he obsesses over every little thing.  He can throw off the balance of the team, or he can push it to where it couldn't go before.  It depends on the other people he's with and how adaptable they can be.

                Then there's Kitty.  She's that gum popping, hair twirling little sister that you have to admit you love.  She's become beautiful, you know.  She's still cute little Kitty to us, but she's different to them.  Sometimes, I couldn't block out the senior boys, sometimes the teachers, too.  They would be calling out in their heads, "Here Kitty-Kitty.  Good Kitty."  She doesn't know.  I hope she never does, but what she doesn't know, CAN hurt her.  Lance never thought those sorts of things.

                I guess I'll get off your case.  You've got a handle on things.  And even if you don't, improvising is your best work.  

                I can't help you with the new recruits.  Sorry.  That's something their leader needs to figure out for herself.  Have fun and don't forget to take care of yourself.  It's your show, now, Rogue.


	3. To Kitty

Parting Words

By Sleepwalk

Disclaimer: The Xmen are a property of Marvel Comics and are licensed to Warner Bros. Television.

No profit is made from this otherwise original work.

Dear Kitty,

                I just want you to know how much fun I've had this past year because of you.  I know you're not a kid, but I got to see what its like to have kid sister.  A kid sister I expect to shop rings around me in Soho, the same as she did in the Bayville Mall.

Unfortunately, you've gone and grown up on me!  Giggles or no giggles.  Ponytail or no ponytail.  You're a top-notch X-woman now.  You've earned it, too.  Through sweat and fire, you've earned it.  You're no one's fool and no one's wimp.

I hope you can laugh at how you would get nervous against The Brotherhood or in the halls of Bayville, during your early days.  Or when Scott would come over and talk to you.  Don't worry, I never got mad.  I hadn't called dibs on him like I should have.

                I'm especially proud of how you've done with Kurt.  I know, if you could do it over again, you wouldn't have reacted to him like you did at first.  I think it turned out for the better.  He got to see that people can change.  It especially helped that he had a little crush on you, I think.  To go from a monster to the friend of someone you think the world of is quite an ego booster.

Remind everyone that you're still young.  You have lives and you should live them.  We're mutants, but we still have to be human, too.  The prom doesn't get skipped because of training exercises.  You can tell Logan I said that, too.

Stay Sharp.  Stay Strong.  Stay Sweet.  Sirens Forever!


	4. To Evan

To Evan

Parting Words

By Sleepwalk

Disclaimer: The Xmen are a property of Marvel Comics and are licensed to Warner Bros. Television.

No profit is made from this otherwise original work.

Hey Porcupine,

                Sorry kid, but I'm skipping town with your pick-and-roll partner.  Look on the bright side.  At least they're letting you play again.

                I guess I should move on to more important things.  I just want to let you know how people look at you.  You should know how proud your family, all of us, feel when we see how well you've done.  When the classes started beating you, you studied.  When the X-men asked for more, you drilled your butt off.  When we felt you growing distant, you let us reach for you.  Even when our changes got out of control, you fought to be what you wanted to be, not what your powers dictated.

You're so much more than you realized.  But, you can't rest now.

                Scott needed someone to lean on.  Rogue will, too.  She's a player/coach and she's going to need a go-to guy.  Back her up when she needs to be right.  Give her advice from your head and your heart, not your guts.  You'll need those for later, believe me.

                Let Kurt and Kitty grow up.  Don't forget to help them do that.  Don't forget to be their friend, either.  Just remember that you had a big brother for a while, too.  They should get the same.

P.S.-  Don't forget to wear a helmet!


	5. To Ray

To Ray

Dear Ray,

            I hope this letter doesn't confuse you.  We haven't become close in the past year, but I have noticed you a lot lately.  (Head out of the gutter, please.)

            The most distinct qualities about your introduction to the team were your age and your discomfort about being in a group.  I believe your exact words were: "I hope I'm not expected to be the baby-sitter around here."  Rogue thought it was funny.  Scott didn't.  He didn't like the idea of someone refusing responsibility.  He did like what he saw in you since then.

            The Morlocks were a secret of yours.  When the need arose, you shared that secret.  You risked Callisto's trust in you to protect your friends.  When Evan was going through his change, you went to the Morlocks again.  Alone.  You had tension with them and still you went after your friend.  And you protected their trust by not bringing the professor, Scott or Logan (who would have preached, made demands or thrashed the place respectively.)

            You don't want to lead a team.  That's too bad.  There's something called leading by example.  You do it everyday.  You may not become a field general or even an X-man if you don't want, but you are doomed to a life of being a good person and a good friend.  For that, I want to thank you.


	6. To Kurt

To Kurt

Kurt Wagner sleepily made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.  Silently, he mused to himself how having an image inducer meant never having to be caught in one's pajamas.  On this day, Kurt's inhuman reflexes and agility kept him from dousing the envelope he had absently poured into his cereal bowl with chocolate milk.  The blue-furred mutant dusted sugary powder off the letter and opened it.

Good Afternoon Fuzzy,

            I figured this was the most private place I could store a letter meant for you.  Even Jamie can't handle the amount of sugar in this stuff.  I guess that's another thing that makes you special.

            First off I want to apologize for not translating into German.  I know its no big deal for you, but I would have liked to.  A translation would have been like a thank you and that's what this letter really is.  For everything the institute has given Kurt Wagner, Kurt Wagner has given back threefold.

            The Professor gave Scott his sight and me my sanity and we are forever grateful.  But, I know he has a special spot for you.  He didn't give you a way out of hiding.  You gave him validation.  That day when you walked out the door to school, pointy ears, spade tail and all, was indescribable.  His eyes hadn't lit up like that since Rahne and Jubilee left.  Teaching us how to use our powers for the good of all mankind is fine and dandy.  Making Bayville High School a place where a young person with an obvious mutation felt free to walk down the halls, that was what he has dedicated himself to.

            I also want to thank you for Scott.  Other students may have kept you at a distance because of your appearance.  Scott keeps other students away because he's Scott.  You gave him a friend.  You gave him someone to talk to about school problems, about 

X-men problems, about girls.  Most of all, you made him laugh.  I don't know of anyone else who did that before you did.  It was something I desperately needed to hear.

            You've gotten a sister, a home, an education and some friends who truly care for you.  I can only hope that you see it like that.  Kurt Wagner came so far from his parents and his homeland.  In doing so, he gave the Xavier Institute something very special and we all hope we've made it worth his while. 


	7. To Professor Xavier

Parting Words

By Sleepwalk

Disclaimer: The Xmen are a property of Marvel Comics and are licensed to Warner Bros. Television.

No profit is made from this otherwise original work.

                It had been, overall, an uneventful day.  Ororo had gotten Jean and Scott safely into the city and to their respective dorms.  The tension between humans and mutants had yet to affect his charges on this day and, although they undoubtedly felt the absence of their senior teammates, the children had spent the hours relatively crisis-free.

                It was there, in his study, that Charles Xavier opened a dog-eared copy of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha and was met by a curious surprise.

Dear Professor,

                I hope this letter finds you as intended, on the day of our leaving the Institute.  I really can't guess at how you felt today.  I wish I could do you justice in doing so, but I fear I won't.  I can, however, tell you how I feel.

                I am elated.  Ecstatic, even.  I am doing what I was meant to do.  I am proving that your theories and teachings hold merit.  I am a mutant and I am succeeding.  I am not locked in a cage.  I am not harvesting human slaves for mutant tyranny.  I am not hidden away in a crystal tower with padded walls and gilded fences.  I am a mutant and I am an eighteen-year-old girl entering her freshman year in college.

                I am not afraid in the same way as Scott is.  He is afraid to be without your guidance, afraid that he may fail you in some way and that your presence alone could prevent it.  I don't need your guidance.  I want it and appreciate it, but I don't need it.  You taught us to become our own people, with our own beliefs.  Besides, when I have doubts, I still have Scott.  And even though he may be only half the wisdom of Charles Xavier, he has twice the intensity.

                As for your own doubts, sir, might I offer some advice?  Look around.  

Look at the people you have entrusted your students with.  They have lived without your help their whole lives.  They owe you nothing and yet they follow and believe in you: training, teaching and caring for your students while adhering to your principles.  

Look at the children you have gathered of various walks of life.  Different colors, cultures and lifestyles living together in harmony and friendship.  It is my belief that if mutations did not exist, if we were all "normal," that the Institute would be exactly as it is now.  We are not children of the devil.  We are not children of the atom.  We are children of an idea, of a dream.  And I know that I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sincerely,

                Jean Elaine Grey

                Xavier refolded the letter and tucked it back into its envelope, the envelope into the book and left his study.  For one night, he did not doubt his goal of coexistence.  How could he?  If a smile and a tear could share his face, then humans and mutants could make a go of it couldn't they?


	8. To Jean

Parting Words

By Sleepwalk

Disclaimer: The Xmen are a property of Marvel Comics and are licensed to Warner Bros. Television.

No profit is made from this otherwise original work.

To: jegrey119@nyu.edu

From: stripegrrl@xavier.org

Re: About your letter

I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your letter.  It rang true and gave me some good insight for what lies ahead of us.  It forces me to say something I never wanted to say, too.

I don't hate you.  I never did, really, and that bothered me a lot.  In the past I was always able to hate people like you.  Not being able hate you made me realize that what I hated in those other people was being hated by them.  Looked down on, pitied, disgusting them, you didn't think that way and it drove me nuts.

And then I touched you.  If I ever had to pick a time I made peace with you, it was when I shorted your TK.  I got inside you and you got inside me.  I found out how you were able to put up with Duncan.  What really bugs you about trig.  Why you don't mind being called "cheerleader."  Why you believe in god and what you think she looks like.

That was the final piece to figuring out who Jean Grey was.  I'm glad I found out.

Enough mushy stuff.  You didn't give me any orders before.  I'm afraid I can't return the favor.  You gave us all missions to fulfill and dammit you get one too.

You watch after Scott.  That's it.  That's all you do.  I don't care if you flunk out, go broke, go crazy, get hit by a bus.  Scott stays safe.  He gets in a hole? Pull him out.  Classes killing him?  You tutor him.  If you two are for real about being each others "best friends" don't let no bitch near him unless she knows just how good she's getting and how good she's gotta be. (Hint: She's never good enough.)

I'm telling you this because it seems that I'm really just going to be holding a place here.  I don't mean that Scott's institutionalized or anything.  It's just that he always seems to be out to do the most good he can.  I can't think of any place he can do that better than here.  Nobody does it better than him either.  Professor Xavier guides us.  Ms. Munroe nurtures us.  Mr. McCoy teaches us.  Logan protects us.  Scott is our leader.  He does all of that stuff and more.  Don't tell him I said that.  He can be whatever he wants, I just think he wants to give back to this place.  That's what I get from being inside of him.

That's all I have to say, really.  I don't hate you.  Good Luck.  Bring our Scooter back safe and sound.  


End file.
